Shaping machine transmission



4, 1947. G .DAVENPQRT 2,415,125 I SHAPING MACHINE TRANSMISS IOK Filed Aug. 21, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l l NVENTOR BY mam/FM ATTORNEY 1947. e. DAVENPORT SHAPING MACHINE TRANSMISSION Filed Aug. 21, 1945- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5255555? vallamv A INYVENTOR WKMW ATTORNEY- ,in the manner disclosed in the rnermann No. 2,077.730. 45

"direction in one -opposite directionin the other. The magnitude Patented Feb. 4, 1947 SHAPING MACHINE TRANSMISSION Granger Davenport, Montclair, N. J., assignor to Gould & Eberhardt, N. 3., a corporation of Incorporated, Irvington,

New Jersey Appiication August 21, 1945,'Serial No. 611,792

Claims.

having the capacit of producing as many as siX- teen diiferent speeds with but four pairs of gear teeth in engagement at any one time. 7

A further aim of the invention is to overcome the difiiculties inherent in the use of helicoidal gearing in a change speed mechanism, such as l the tendency of sliding gears to ride out of mesh when under load, and the need of auxiliary mechanisms, in the way of complex gear shifting devices and locks to hold the gears inoperating position. tion undertakes to render available a shaper drive change-speed mechanism in which the gear shifting forks are relieved of the duty of holding the sliding gears in meshedrelation after being shifted to one oranother effective position.

In carrying out the objectives of this invention it is now proposed to construct the entire shaper driving and change-speed mechanisms with helicoidal gears and incorporate the-rein 3 speed change sets, in series arrangement. The primary set, yielding 2 speeds, the secondary or the transmission set yielding 4 speeds, and the tertiary or back-gear set yielding 2 speeds, making a total of 16 different speeds available.

In the present embodiment of the invention the first and second speed change sets involve power transmission principles as concerns two shafts, whereas, the third (back gears) involve power transmitting principles as concerns three shafts. In the latter situation, the intermediate gear of, the conventional helical single gear, isin kinetic balance, and if it is gear train if a doubleor compound, can be kinetically balanced patent to Zim- The principle of balancing theend thrusts in the intermediate compound helical gear unit of a three-shaftdrive, cannot be applied to a situation wherein the power istransmitted between two shafts, for in any two-gear helical drive so there is always produced an end thrust in one gear, and an end thrust in the of the end thrust is a function of the helix angle of the gear and its tooth load and the direction on As an additional objective, this inven- 20 whereby the Cl. IQ-342) of the thrust will depend on the hand of the helix, the direction of gear rotation, and whether the gear in question is driving or being driven.

Heretofore it has not been found feasible or practical to employhelical gears in a shaper change speed transmission mainly because of difficulty in'taking helical gear thrusts through a shifter fork or equivalent and the consequent difiiculties in shifting. By this invention, however, the difficulties inherent in helical, gear change speed mechanisms have bee-n eliminated in a manner whereby the end thrust in a shiftable helical gear is taken by sturdy non-shiftable abutments and bearings of the 'machine, the shifting forks, etc., being relieved entirely of that duty. In accomplishing the results envisaged, thisinvention proposes a shaper drive transmission, wherein each shiftable element of the drive is constructed as a compound gear having hut three positions, i. e., neutral, right effective, and left effective. At the extremes of shift of the compound gear, positive abutments are provided that definitely prevent movement of the gear, in an axial direction, beyond those points. Additionally, each gear of the compound shiftable unit, is made so that its tooth helix progresses in a direction opposite to the other, and is given a set that, with regard to the function of the gear and its direction of rotation, the end thrust developed therein will be toward the adjacent positive abutment when the gear is at one limit of its shift (one effective position) and toward the other positive abutment when the gear is at the otherlimit of its shift (its other effective position). By so developing a transmission extremes of the aforesaid left and right shiftrmovements are the fully engaged positions with companion gears of a train, the end thrusts on the gears will be in the direction opposed todisengagement, regardless of which gear of the unit is functioning at the time as the driver. More specifically, if the gears of the compound helical gear unit have their tooth counter thrusts and back slapping of the gears on ram reversals and by using low angles oppositely-set and related with regards to the position and function of eachgear in the train, a quiet and smooth running, self-retaining and easily shifted transmission, eminently suited to shaping machine usage, is provided. Moreover, the need for heavy complex shifters is eliminated and a simpler, more sensitive,-and more easily operated gear shifting mechanism, has with this invention, been made possible.

Other objects and advantages will be in part indicated in the following description and in part rendered apparent therefrom in connection with the annexed drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art so fully to apprehend the underlying features hereof that they may embody the same in the various ways contemplated by this invention, drawings depicting a preferred typical construction have been annexed as a part of this disclosure and, in such drawings, like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which:-

Figure 1 is a side view of a shaping machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View, in developed form, illustrating more clearly the drive gearing and gear shifting mechanisms of the machine shown in Fig. 1. v

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of portions of a helical gear speed-change mechanism and its mounting means.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the tooth portions of a pair of mating gears in disengaged position.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, the shaping machine illustrated comprises a base member ill, from which rises a main frame II that supports, in V-guides along its top, a reciprocable ram member l2. To the front of the main frame a vertically adjustable saddle memher it is mounted and which carries a horizontally movable cross-slide M, The slide 14, in turn, supports a work table Hi that carries the workpiece W to be machined by a tool T carried at the forward end of the ram 12. As will be understood the ram is reciprocated by power, and between strokes, the work is shifted laterally. The power for lateral intermittent feed movements is taken off the ram reciprocating mechanism and is, therefore, always in synchronism therewith. Intermittent feed mechanisms for that purpose are well known, as evidenced by, the patent to Zimmermann No. 1,960,565, and need not be explained herein in great detail.

Within the main frame is pivoted a pitman lever I5 whose upper end is pivoted to a draw link 55 which, in turn, is adjustably connected to the ram 12. When, therefore, the pitman is oscillated about its fixed pivot ll, the ram is caused to reciprocate. The pitman is slotted longitudinally and receives a radially adjustable crank pin element I8 that is carried by a large compound gear bull wheel !9 having gears 20 and 21. The bull wheel is journaled in a massive bearing in the main frame, cantilever fashion, and the p-itman lever it is adapted to sweep across the inner face thereof. As illustrated more clearly in the developed diagram (Fig. 2), the power for rotating the bull gears 20 and fl enters the machine via a main drive shaft 25. A loose drive pulley 25 and a plate type clutch. 21. of conventional design, afford a means for starting and stopping the main drive. The clutch 21 is actuated by a master control lever 28, located at the operators side of the machine.

As illustrated more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3,01.

the drawings, the power introduced into the shaft 25 is transmitted to a shafttll through achangeas a cluster gear speed mechanism A which affords two primary changes in speed. From shaft 39, the power is transmitted to a shaft 355, through a secondary speed change mechanism B, referred to as transmission gears, which affords four additional speed changes. And from the shaft 35, the power is transmitted to the bull wheel of the shaper through a tertiary change speed mechanism C, referred to also as back gears, which afford two further speed changes, making a total of sixteen selective speeds. In the instant embodiment, the ra as cover 3: by the sixteen speeds is from 15 to 2-5 ram. strokes per minute, with an average differential of approximately 19% between the changes.

Referring to the primary change speed mechanism A, the driving gears c and a are formed unit which is securely mounted upon the main drive shaft 25. The gears a a are, respectively, meshed b complemental driven gears a (i that are slidably splined upon the shaft which parallels the main drive shaft The driving gears al a? are spaced apart slmiciently to accommodate therebetween both of the driven gears a a to provide an intermediate neutral position in the course of shifting the latter unit from an effective position where gear 0: meshes with gear a to its other effective position where gear a meshes with the gear 00. Yihe gearing is so designed that the axial shifting of the sliding unit is definitely limited to one position to either side of its neutral or intermediate position by non-shiftable abutments. abutments comprise, on the one side, the inner rotatable race 28 of an antifri-ction thrust hearing 29 that journals the shaft 35!, and on the other side, a flanged lock ring at that seats in an annular groove formed in the shaft 32' The outer race of the thrust bearing 29 is backed up and supported in the frame by a threaded collar 32. The opposite end of the shaft til is similarly journaled in antifriction thrust bearing 33 that seats in a flanged recess 3 formed in the main rame. Both ends of the shaft 3t? shoulder against the inner races of the respective thrust bearings.

shirnrning up as at 33* (Fig. 3), behind the thrust bearing its the endwise position of the shaft may be precision determined and thereafter held, securely against endwise movement.

In accordance with this invention, the gears of the chan e speed set A are helical gears, having teeth set respectively left and right hand on the driving gears a and c and right and left hand on the driven gears a and a respectively. In

this instance the driven gear unit comprising 7 gears c and a is slidable. The main power shaft 25, when the main clutch is engaged, turns clockwise (right handed) viewed from the pulley end, and the helix of the driving gear a thereon is set right-hand and the driving gear a has its' helix set left hand. The driven gears (13 and a are also oppositely angled, but reversely to the driving gears because of the parallel axes of the driving and driven shafts. In consequence of this particular helical set of the gear teeth, the

axial or endthrust produced in the sliding unit when gear a is transmitting the power, is toward the right (as viewed in 3), and directly against the rotating shoulder or flanged abutmerit provided by the ring 35. And when the slidable unit is shifted to its other extreme efiec-' tive position wherein gear a is transmitting the power, the axial thrust is toward the left (as viewed in Fig. 3) and against the rotatable abut- The By loosening the adjustable collar 32' ment provided by the inner race 28 of the thrust bearing 29. There is, therefore, no tendency of the shiftable gear of the change speed set, to be urged out of engagement when under load, in either effective position, and the thrust on the shifting mechanism is correspondingly reduced to practically zero. For convenience in manufac ture the gears c and c are separately cut and th former welded or otherwise secured to the latter.

With regard to the secondary speed change mechanism B, the four speed changes are effected by two slidable double-gear units b and b splined on the shaft 3 and oomplemental sets of cluster gears 22 and b that are non-slidably splinedon the shaft 35. Each of the slidable units b 1:! has three positions, left effective, intermediate or neutral, and right effective, and the complemental units b and b have their respective gears spaced in conformity. As with the gears of the primary set, the sliding gears of the secondary set have their extremes of movement definitely limited by non-shiftable abutments, i. e., the inner race of thrust bearing 33, the opposite faces of a lock ring 36 located between the units 11 and b and one face of the lock ring 3| previously mentioned. Each sliding unit may, of course, have its own abutments, in the form of rings, bearings, or shoulders on the shaft, etc., but in the interest of connserving space and to simplify the construction and operation it has been found practical to employ only the two outer thrust bearings and two lock rings positioned as illustrated, to provide the necessary six abutments for the opposite extremes of shift of the three independently shiftable changespeed gear units.

Each of the two gears of each shiftable unit b and b of the secondary change-speed set B, are helical gears and have the teeth of their respective gears set at opposite angles, and being driving gears on a counterclockwise running shift (as viewed from the pulley side of the machine), are set (starting with the gear nearest the pulley side and progressing toward the operators side) right-hand, left-hand, right-hand, and left-hand. The set of the teeth of these shiftable units are, it will be observed, directionally opposite the set of the teeth of the shiftable gears a a of the primary set because the former function as driving, and the latter, as driven elements. The complementary gears of the nonshiftable units 79 and b have their teeth oppositely angled in conformity with the set of the teeth of their respective drivers, with the result that when either of the shiftable units of changespeed set B, is shifted to, its right or left effective position the end thrust reacts in a direction tending to hold the shiftable gear in mesh, and against its limiting abutment. It will further be observed that the end thrust produced in the shaft 33, tend, under certain conditions, to be cancelled out. That is, when the thrust produced by the helical gears of the primary set reacts directionally opposite to the thrusts produced by one of the units of the secondary speed change set, the algebraiwsum of the end thrusts is reduced to a minimum and corresponding savings in power and wear on the bearings is real-.- ized.

The shaft 35 of the secondary speed change B, has cutthereon a wide face helical gear 31 that is continually meshed by an intermediate gear 38 of a shiftable unit 33. A second gear 4| forms a part ofthe shiftable unit 39 and which,

together with the bull gears 20 and 2| constitute the third or back-gear change speed mechanism C. When the unit 33 is shifted to the right (in Fig. 2) along its shaft 40, any one of the eight selective speeds of the shaft 35, is transmitted through gears 31, 38, and 20, and the axial thrusts in gear 39 are in balance. When the unit 39 is shifted to the left, the power is transmitted through gears 31, 38, 4|, and 2|, (providing 8 additional speeds). In the latter position the axial thrusts in the unit 39 would be outof-balance, if the helical angles of all of the gears are the same. However, by determining the angle of the helix of the teeth of the'gear 4| with due regard to its tooth load and size relative to the gear 38, as taught in the patent to Zimmermann No. 2,077,730, the end thrusts in the shiftable intermediate compound gear unit 39 can be balanced in each of its effective positions.

The shifting of the'gears of the aforementioned three serially related change-speed mechanisms is effected, in the instant embodiment, with two levers, each independently controlling the positions of two of the shiftable units. Referring first to the shiftable units of th primary and tertiary speed change mechanisms, each unit thereof is straddled by a shifter fork 25 and 46 respectively, fixed to rectilinearly movable rods :3 47 and 48 that are supported in bearings provided by the main frame. The outer end of the rod 41 has rack teeth 49 formed thereon which mesh with the teeth of a pinion 56 that is pinned to a transverse shaft 5|. The shaft 5| also has i gear teeth 52 formed thereon which continually mesh with annular rack teeth 53 formed upon a vertically extending shaft 54. Axial movement of the vertical shaft 54 will through the mechanisms described effect shifting of the slidable gear unit a a laterally.

The vertical shaft 54 is adapted to be actuated by its handle portion 55, and is normally constrained in shifted position by ball detent means 56 The back-gear shifter shaft 48 has rack teeth 63 thereon which mesh with a wide face pinion 3| likewise carried by the vertical shaft 54. Thus, angular movement of the handle 55 effects shifting of the back gear unit 39, ball detent means 52 being provided as combined locating and holding means, and vertical movement of the handle 55 effects shifting of the unit a a of the primary change-speed set. By so arranging the parts, either slidable unit may be shifted without disturbing a previously set position of the other. A spring 51, operating between the gear 6| on the shaft and a portion 59 of the main frame, yieldingly takes the weight of the shaft 54.

The gears of the secondary change-speed mechanism B are shifted in a somewhat similar manner. Each unit b and 12 thereof is straddled by a shifter fork H and 12 mounted upon rectilinearly movable shafts ES and M, respectively. The shafts l3 and M are positioned one above the other and their adjacent sides notched out,

as at l5 and 76, near their outer ends. An angularly movable lever 7? carried by a rotatable and vertically shiftable control shaft 78, is adapted to engage the notched portions of the rods 73 and F3, alternately. When each shifter rod is in an intermediate position, as determined by ball detent means 19 and 89, the notched. portions of the rods are aligned and the lever 77 may be moved vertically from one slot to the other.

Angular-movement of the lever by means of its handle 8| will thereafter effect a lateral shifting ofone of the shifter rods and the gear unit controlled thereby. The spacing of the shifter rods l3 and i l is such, however, that the lever Tl cannot be disengaged from either shifter rod until that rod is returned to its neutral position. This interlocking of the shifters, prevents at tempting the shifting of both slidable units 1: and b to effective positions simultaneously.

. Each of the shifter control shafts 5 andi8 is provided with a radially extending pointer 5M and 78 respectively, which in cooperation with circular dial plates 5 and it giving the-various speeds, enables the operator quickly to obtain proper vertical angular positions of the two controls necessary in selecting any of the sixteen ram speeds available with a mechanism of this character and directly to obtain a selected speed with' out progressively shifting through any of the intermediate steps.

It will be noted that the gear shifting forks and their actuators do not, with compound helical gear units constructed and related as herein disclosed, carry any appreciable portion of the thrust resulting in the respective shiftable units, such end thrusts being taken by rotatable abut ments, and consequently the need for complisated, massive shifting mechanisms and locking devices is eliminated. Heretofore, the use of helical gearing in a change speed mechanism has been avoided as impractical because of inability successfully to provide for gear thrust. However, in the present embodiment of this invention in which, relatively low angle helical gears are emplayed, the tendency of sliding gears to jump out of mesh at the ends of the strokes of the ram and before the reversal in motion occurs, is eliminated. Unlike other machine tool drives, a shaping machine transmission is subjected intermittently to the shock of overcoming the inertia of the ram at the end of the forward and return movements thereof, as well as suddenly to pick up the load and start the ram travel anew in the respectively opposite directions. If the helix angle is relatively high, for example above 25, the back slap becomes objectionable, and if the helix angles are too low, e. g., below 16, the advantages of helical gearing begin to disappear. It has been found, however, that a helix angle, in and for the gear teeth of a transmission for shapers, of the order of works out very well from all aspects All the advantages of helical .gearing are retained, i. e., progressive tooth engagements and more than one tooth under load at any one time which promotes quietness and smoothness in the drive, plus the further advantages of ease in shifting helical gears into and out of mesh when the power clutch is disengaged, and the absence of back-slap on ram reversals. By chamfering the leading ends of the teeth of mating gears, such as illustrated by the beveled ends 9H, 98 in Fig. 4, additional assurance of ease in shifting the gears into their effective positions is had.

For the purpose of the foregoing description, the expression right hand helix will be understood to mean one that progresses about the surface of a cylinder in a right hand direction, assuming that the cylinder is vertically disposed and the trace proceeds from the bottom toward the top thereof. Right hand turning will be understood to mean a clockwise rotation about a center when looking down on and in the direction of the axis of rotation of the gear. If the gear is viewed from fully its side (at the tooth face) and its axis is horizontal, the expression right hand turning is to mean that the bottom portion of the gear is coming andthe top going. Axial thrust or end thrust toward the right or toward the left, will be understood to mean the movement or tendency to move in those directions assuming the axis of the gear to be disposed in a, horizontal plane and the view point is in the same plane and normal to the axis of the gear. It will be further understood that the opposite term left as used herein means directions opposite to those above discussed in connection with the term rightl Without further analysis, the foregoing will so reveal the gist of this invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various utilizations by retaining one or more of the features that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of either the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should be, and are intended to be, comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalency of the following claims:

Having thus revealed this invention, I claim as new and desire to secure the following combinations and elements, or equivalent-s thereof, by Letters Patent of the United States:

i. In a helical gear mechanism embodying at least one two-gear shift-able helical gear unit, means for relieving the shifting fork associated with the shiftable unit of end thrusts resulting in the transmission of power, combining a pair of non-shiftable helical gears, each having helical teeth thereon with their respective helices extending in opposite directions, and helical teeth on the gears of said shiftable unit, said latter named helical teeth being directionally oppositely disposed on the respective gears thereof, means for limiting the extremes of shift of the shiftable unit, said helical disposition of teeth of complementary pairs of gears being directionally disposed to effect an end thrust on the shiftable unit acting in the direction of said limiting means at each extreme of shift of the shiftable unit, and means including said shifting fork to shift said shiftable gear unit selectively to either of its extremes.

2. A helical gear change speed mechanism comprising a set of non-shiftable helical gears, a set of complementary shiftable helical gears, a thrust bearing at each extreme of shift of said set of 'shiftable gears. each of said sets of gears consisting of two gear wheels having oppositely angled helical gear teeth thereon, the angular relation of the teeth of complementary gears of each of said sets being disposed to effect an end thrust on the shiftable gear set reacting in the direction of one of said thrust bearings when the shiftable gears are at one extreme position of shift and in the direction of the other of said thrust bearings when the shiftable gears are at the other extreme position of shift.

3. A gear transmission comprising a pair of helical toothed driving gears and a pair of helical toothed driven gears mounted on parallel shafts, the gears of each of said pairs having their teeth set at a helical angle of approximately 15 and the set of one of the pair being opposite to the set of the other of said pair, means mounting the gears of one of said pairs normally in straddled relation with the gearsof the other pair, means mounting one of said pairs for axial movement in opposite directions along its shaft to bring one of the gears thereof into and out of mesh with one of the gears of the other pair selectively or to bring the other of said pair into and out of mesh with the other of said other pair selectively, means for shifting the gears of the axially movable pair, non-shiftable abutment means at each side of the axially movable pair of gears operative to limit the extent of axial movement thereof in opposite directions to the efiective meshed positions, and means comprising the helical disposition of the teeth of the gears of the shiftahle pair to maintain each gear of said pairselectively in each of its shifted and effective meshed positions.

4. A helical gear change-speed gear transmission comprising a non-shiftable set of helical gears, and a shiftable complementary set of helical gears, said shiftable gears having a neutral position and an effective position to the right and to the left thereof respectively, abutment means at the right limit of shift of said gears, and abutment means at the left limit of shift of said gears, and oppositely angled helically disposed gear teeth on said shiftable gears.

5. A change speed transmission comprising a driving shaft, a driven shaft, and an intermediate combined driving and driven shaft, a compound gear on said driving shaft and a compound gear on said driven shaft, a pair of compound gears independently slidable on said intermediate shaft adapted to coact with said first named compound gears, abutment means for limiting the extremes of shift in opposite directions of each of said pair of shiftable compound gears, and oppositely angled helically disposed gear teeth on each of said compound gears, the set of the teeth on the slidable compound gears being related as to produce an end thrust in each of the slidable gears reacting in the direction of said limiting means in each oppositely shifted position of the slidable gears, and whereby, in at least one effective position of the two slidable compound gears, the end thrust produced by one of the compound gears reacts oppositely to the end thrust produced by the other compound gear, and means for shifting said slidable gears.

GRANGER DAVENPORT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,335,797 Schreiber et a1 Nov. 30, 1943 2,077,730 Zimmermann Apr. 20, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 734,291 French Daimler-Benz July 26, 1932 

